"Je ne peux pas comprendre un mot que Stereolab chante."

Translation: I can't understand a word Stereolab is singing.

All right, so that's not entirely true. While my six years of French have been banished to some remote part of my brain that science has yet to discover, half of the band's dreamy vocals are still sung in English by chanteuse Laetitia Sadier.

Not that it much matters to me. Stereolab's lyrics have always had Marxist leanings, and I barely know what that means, let alone care. No, what really does it for me with the band's tenth full-length album, Margerine Eclipse, is the music.

But it's time to come clean here. I'm no expert fan. I have only one Stereolab album (aside from this one), the name-droppable Emperor Tomato Ketchup. I can tell you this, though: I love it.

So since that album seems to be the high water mark for you hardcore 'Lab fans, it's my duty to inform you that this latest effort does not eclipse its exalted predecessor; but that's OK.

It's OK for a band to fall short of replicating its masterpiece yet continue to make great music. Margerine Eclipse is by no means essential, but some of the band's patently ambient-meets-pop offerings, like the groove-laden "Margerine Melodie" and the rocking "Bop Scotch," are definitely enjoyable.

I can understand if you don't want to spend the money for what sometimes sounds like the same old Stereolab. But if you do, it'll be OK. I promise.

-- Reviewed by David Tatasciore